Once a Handmaiden Alternate Ending
by Arwen the Storyteller
Summary: Here's an alternate ending for Once a Handmaiden.


**Once a Handmaiden…Alternate Ending: **

Rapunzel was breathless, frozen in place, emotionless. Corona, her home, was covered with black rocks, sprouting hundreds of feet out of her kingdom. The hills, the village, even the castle. It was a horrifying terrifying sight that she could lift her eyes from.

Eugene standing next to her was horrified too. He couldn't believe that a handmaiden who he considered a sister once had now destroyed another kingdom with the almighty powerful Moonstone. Just like it had done back at his birth home the Dark Kingdom where he had lost his mother as a baby and where his father had lived in for twenty-five lonely years trying to safeguard the Moonstone so that no other kingdom on Earth would end like Corona had right now.

Rapunzel couldn't hold back her tears. They rained down from her eyes as she started crying. She ran off into the forest, Pascal clinging to her shoulder.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene called out. He attempted to go after her but his father Edmund caught his shoulder gently.

"Let her go son," he said. "She needs to be alone. Give her some time,"

Eugene decided to listen to his father and leave his love alone for a while. What she had just witnessed would take her some time to calm down.

The hours passed by as everyone settled down to have a rest. Eugene, Lance, Varian, Kiera and Catalina sat together in group with Max and Fidella. Eugene didn't move a muscle. He was too worried about his girlfriend to speak a world.

As the others roasted some sausages over the fire with sad faces, Varian broke the silence. "I never would have thought Cassandra would be –," Varian couldn't finish.

"Terrifying?" Lance offered. "Terrifying that she would cover Corona in black rocks?"

"It looks just like the Dark Kingdom," Eugene joined in. "Only more horrifying. Imagine if the whole world was like this,"

"Wait? You mean the kingdom where that moonstone came from?" Keira asked.

"Yes," Eugene nodded.

"The kingdom where you were born?" Kiera continued. She remembered Eugene and Rapunzel telling her and her adoptive sister about their adventures and about the Dark Kingdom, which was where their close friend and surrogate brother was born as a prince.

Eugene nodded again. Talking about his birth home made him feel agitated.

Keira saw it in his eyes and knew better than to continue.

"How could she do this? To her own home?" Catalina cursed.

"Because she is blinded by anger and jealously for Rapunzel," Eugene answered. "And more blinded today by the fact that she thought she tried to kill her. Now she thinks that we'll only see her as an enemy,"

"I really do not know what happened to my invention back there. I promise you all I never fired at her," Varian swore.

"We know kid," Eugene said. "Whatever happened out there must have because of someone else,"

"Who could it have been?" Lance asked.

No one could answer.

Eugene stood up and decided to excuse him for a while. Varian joined him.

All the subjects of Corona sat around campfires in the forest with blankets and spare food and water. Their king and queen as well as the Dark Kingdom were busy helping some of their servants distribute what they had.

Edmund looked at Corona's subjects solemnly. They were just like his former subjects who he had sent away for safety. Homeless. Heartbroken that their home was now covered by thousands of black rocks. He heard footsteps and saw his son and Varian approaching.

"How is everyone?" Eugene asked.

"They're alright," his father answered.

"We have enough blankets, food and water for the time being," Arianna's words lifted up their spirits.

Frederic however looked glum. "It won't last for long though," His claims were confirmed by how the worried looks of Corona's citizens and the grumbling of their stomachs. There wasn't enough food to completely feed everyone; there was too many.

"Can I talk with you a second dad?" Eugene requested to his father.

"Of course son," Edmund answered.

"Might we come along as well?" Varian inquired himself and his father.

"Of course," Edmund approved.

The two fathers and their sons walked away from the group. As they did, Eugene decided to ask his father about the magical stone that Cassandra had used to manipulate their previous ally Adira and her brother: their previous nemesis Hector.

"Father…why did you create that Mind-trap stone?" Eugene asked.

"I did so that the Brotherhood would remain loyal to their devotion to protect the Moonstone,"

"Then how come it ended up in the Spire?" Eugene asked. "Why would you place it there?"

"He gave the stone to me to take a safe vault," Quirin answered. "Eventually I sent a message to him by a raven that he had discovered the Spire. It was the only way the brotherhood would remain loyal to their duty and make sure no one could have control over my greatest warriors,"

"What happened to our kingdom's subjects?" Eugene asked. "After you sent them away all those years ago dad?" He remembered how his father told him that after his failed attempted to rid the kingdom of the Moonstone he sent their subjects away so that they would be protected.

"I don't know. I guess they just split up and lived in other cities or towns," Edmund confessed. "They had no kingdom to live in anymore, so on the day I sent you away, I wanted everyone to find new homes so they could live better lives. I wanted you to live a better life as well son. Away from such dark destructive power,"

Eugene held his father's hand. "If anyone is to blame for what Cass has done it's me. Back at the Dark Kingdom, I thought I was the one who betrayed Rapunzel by not letting her in. I quit suspecting Cassandra. I thought that she could be trustworthy. And I didn't think she would take the stone when she came close to Rapunzel. I feel like a fool. I feel like I've dishonoured our family's oath by allowing Cass to destroy another innocent kingdom,"

"You're not to blame Prince Eugene," Quirin spoke. Ever since reuniting with his former king, Quirin had learnt that Eugene was his son and was the baby whose nurse he had seen take him out of the nursery. "Even Rapunzel couldn't have seen it come?"

"Dad? How come that stone didn't work on you?" Varian asked. "You're a member of the Brotherhood and you didn't fight against us against your own will,"

"I have no idea," Quirin confessed. "The stone hasn't been used in over twenty-five years. It's very likely it would have lost its power to control every Brotherhood member,"

"How can we know for sure?" Eugene asked sceptically. He bore Quirin no harm, but it didn't mean he was under Cassandra's control. For all they knew he could be under the former handmaiden's power.

Quirin shrugged his shoulders.

Varian decided to excuse himself and his father away from a while.

"What is son?" Quirin asked.

"Dad…why didn't you ever tell me about the Brotherhood? Or the Dark Kingdom? Where you truthfully came from?" Varian wanted his father to answer his questions.

"I wanted to protect you," Quirin said. "And it was my sacred duty to King Edmund that I would keep it secret from everyone. Including my loved ones. I didn't want you to get involved with these Black Rocks,"

"Because you knew where they came from," Varian realised.

"Yes. I thought if we ignored them, no one would get hurt," Quirin explained. "King Edmund lost his wife because of those rocks and their source. His subjects had to be sent away,"

"That must be awful for him. And Eugene too," Varian said sorrowfully.

"Yes," Quirin admitted. "I never knew he was the king's son. The last time Hector, Adira and I ever saw him was when his nurse took him away. We never heard of him again. His father wanted him to grow up in a better life where he would not be associated with any of us or these Black Rocks,"

"I understand now father. You've been keeping secrets to protect everyone. I'm sorry I thought you were so dishonest,"

"It's okay son," Quirin promised. "I would have felt the same way too.

The night hours passed and nearly everyone had fallen asleep. All except Lance, Eugene and Varian.

"She's been away a long time," Eugene's voice was filled with worry.

"I'm sure she's alright buddy," Lance assured. "She's needed these hours to be alone. And besides she's got that frog with her,"

"I should go and look for her," Eugene decided.

"Are you sure Eugene?" Varian sceptically asked. "She might not feel like talking with anyone,"

"I should at least try Varian," Eugene knew that his love needed someone aside from a chameleon to converse with about her troubles.

Maximus galloped off; Eugene called out for Rapunzel's name several times but there was no reply. They came to a hill that overlooked the woodlands. There on the top, Eugene could see a desolate Rapunzel sitting on the tallest tree dangling her feet over the branch.

Maximus trotted closer to the tree.

"Blondie?" he called up. "Sunshine?"

Rapunzel didn't respond. She just sat still on her branch, crying over everything. Eugene decided to climb up. He climbed up the branches like a ladder until he was on the same branch as Rapunzel. She didn't react to his presence. Only Pascal did, who gave Eugene a sad croon.

"Hey Blondie, are you okay?" Eugene asked.

"I'm fine," Rapunzel lied.

"I love and know you too much," Eugene shook his head, not buying her lie. "Please tell me what's wrong,"

Rapunzel sighed. He wouldn't move until she'd give him a straight answer. "It's all my fault," she sobbed.

"No Blondie," Eugene refused to let guilt drive her down. "It's not your fault!"

"Yes it is!" Rapunzel screamed out. "It's all my fault Corona has been taken! It's my fault we're all out here! It's my fault she's completely bad now!"

Eugene gave her a moment to calm down and breathe in and out quietly. Finally, she calmed down, giving him a chance to speak.

"Rapunzel…" he lifted up her chin with a gentle hand "None of this is your fault,"

"But it is. Maybe if I had been a better friend, Cassandra would never have easily been swayed into doing this,"

"No. This entire mess is all my fault. Even I hadn't had done that public proposal, Cassandra never would have thought of taking you out of Corona before your coronation to cool you down, you girls never would have found those rocks, your hair never would have grown back, we never would have been brought on that journey to the Dark Kingdom, she never would have found out she was Gothel's daughter, she never would have betrayed us and taken the moonstone, she never would have done this to Corona,"

"No Eugene," Rapunzel shook her head. "Either way, Cassandra would have taken me out because even before that I already felt confined in the castle,"

Eugene couldn't stop feeling upset for his love. "The truth is we can't change what has passed. We can only focus on what is happening right now.

"You're right Eugene," Rapunzel said. "Despite everything that has happened, I'm actually glad we went on this big wide adventure half-way across the world. We've grown closer, met old and new friends, had such fantastic adventures...and you met your father and found out who you were. I'm glad we came on this journey, it's done so much for us - even if - one of us turned evil,"

Eugene felt a bang of happiness, while of him felt happy that they went on this journey and in doing so he met his father and now had him as a new big part of his life, a part of him felt incredibly sorry for how much Cassandra's betrayal had affected his love. "If it's not us who's to blame for what has happened, it's that ghost girl you told us about. Not to mention she's actually the daemon who nearly destroying Corona with an ice blizzard,"

An idea sparked in Rapunzel's head. "You don't think she's the one who caused Varian's gun to shoot at Cass do you?"

Eugene thought it was perhaps a possibility. "Maybe you're right. Maybe she's trying to make Cass see that we think she's evil. Maybe that ghost girl is the ultimate reason for her betrayal,"

Rapunzel was bewildered more than ever. "How can she trust the words of that daemon? How can she not see that she is just using her?"

"And she said you were obliviously naïve," Eugene recalled their argument back at the Great Tree. "How can she be so stupid to allow that daemon to manipulate her? To betray you, me, our families, our friends? To take over Corona like this? Despite all our pleas?"

Rapunzel couldn't answer. Instead she was brought into a hug by her boyfriend. "We have to stop her. I do not even know if I can ever forgive her for this. I may have wanted her back for so long…but seeing Corona like this…"

From where they sat they saw Corona covered with Black rocks. How could she ever find it in her heart to forgive her once former best friend for doing this? "I don't know if I can. I don't even think I can walk into her presence again. I don't think I'm strong enough to save Corona,"

"It's okay Blondie," he said. "We'll stop Cassandra and get Corona back. I promise. We'll do this together. We've started on this path together. We'll finish it together. I will right here by your side. Forever and always,"

The loving words her love gifted her gave Rapunzel strength. It didn't matter how this whole conflict started. What mattered most was how they would finish it. How they would finally reclaim Corona from Cassandra and stop Zhan Tiri.

But one question remained for Rapunzel.

Could she really forgive Cassandra for doing this? To innocent people? To her family? To her love?

She could not dwell on that question.


End file.
